While the second season of ABC’s V premiered to decent ratings last night, the network isn’t slowing down any promotion for its top sci-fi show.

In an exclusive story with USA Today, ABC released an official image that shows exactly what the alien Visitors look like underneath all that human flesh. We’ve included the full image and analysis after the jump for those that want to avoid some major spoilers.

According to the USA Today piece, over the course of the second season’s ten episodes, viewers will get looks and glances at the V’s appearance, but the full alien won’t be unveiled until the season finale. Executive Producer Scott Rosenbaum had this to say on the new look:

With the new year comes brand new television and over the following days and weeks, we’ll take a look at the premieres of the Winter’s hottest shows in our Winter 2011 TV Primer!

First up will be the return of ABC’s V!

Tonight, at 9/8 Central on ABC, V is back for a second season, helmed by Scott Rosenbaum (formerly of Chuck and The Shield).

Below is ABC’s official recap summary of Season 1 which does a great job of explaining exactly what V is and what happened previously to catch you up for the Season 2 premiere. Also, embedded below is the latest V podcast that offers a good idea of what’s to come in Season 2.

The most wonderful time of the year is once again upon us. The Christmas season is here and with that comes Christmas TV episodes!

For the 25 days leading up til Christmas Day this month, we’ll be spotlighting some of the best Christmas-themed episodes from some of Geek culture’s greatest shows. Each day we’ll cover different shows and episodes and encourage you to watch along with us. So come one, come all, to the 25 Days of Geek TV Christmas!

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2010 – Day 2: Chuck

Season 2, Episode 11: “Chuck Versus the Santa Claus”
Directed by: Robert Duncan McNeill
Written by: Scott Rosenbaum
Starring: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Adam Baldwin, Julia Ling, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky, Ryan McPartlin and Tony Hale
Original Air Date: December 15, 2008

You can purchase a copy of the episode at Amazon or iTunes.

V: The Complete First Season
Blu-ray | DVD
(2009)
Starring Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chesnut, Joel Gretsch, Logan Huffman, Lourdes Benedicto, Laura Vandervoort, Morena Baccarin, Scott Wolf
Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release date: November 2, 2010

I watched the majority of V as it aired, and honestly, a lot of what I saw didn’t blow me away. I liked what I saw for the most part, but like many at the time, I was drawn in by Lost and my attention faded as V aired directly after. A friend of mine was a huge fan of V, and ultimately made me enjoy the great parts of the show. Finally getting to sit and watch the show on Blu-ray on its own, I was far more drawn in, and I was able to enjoy the series for what it is: a fantastic, thoughtful science fiction show that digs into modern day issues while still giving an intriguing story about rebels fighting an invasion.

Based on the cult hit miniseries from the 1980s, the basic premise of V is that several parts of Earth’s skies are overcast by large spaceships as a group of alien Visitors led by Anna (Morena Baccarin) who promise “We are peace. Always.” The atmosphere that is created when they are setting up the arrival of the Visitors so eerie and almost robotic. The tone of the show at this point is that the Visitors are not necessarily to be trusted, but with the help of broadcast journalist, Chad Decker (Scott Wolf), Anna and company are able to gain the trust of the majority of the population. The conspiracy theory portion of the show starts with Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) as she teams with a group of rebels that don’t trust the group of aliens that have come to their planet.

Just when you thought that Fox couldn’t enrage you any more than they already have, it has now been announced that Chuck producer Scott Rosenbaum is developing a new show for the television studio that will supposedly be an “epic Western with a sci-fi twist” about a gunslinger who is caught between two worlds. Rosenbaum will be producing the show with Warner Brothers TV and Terminator Salvation director McG‘s Wonderland Sound and Vision studio. No title or further details are known as of this moment.

The big catch in all of this, is that it sounds an awful lot like the basic premise for another former Fox title that just so happens to have a massive cult following of fans dying for its revival: Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Granted, the whole “stuck between worlds” bit sounds like it won’t be identical to Firefly, but it is still enough to scratch your head, and for some, maybe even become more angry.